Vietnam’s aggressive and cost-effective approach to containing the pandemic
Despite being one of the earliest countries outside of China to record a COVID-19 infection, Vietnam has been able to keep a rather low infection rate so far. The country has been praised globally for its proactive approach and success in containing the virus. Key aspects of its strategy in dealing with the virus include identifying and quarantining suspected cases based on its third-degree contact tracing, cost-effective use of existing public and military facilities, and early and transparent communication to the public. After the first COVID-19 recorded cases in 2020, the government has launched and encouraged the usage of two apps: NCOVI for online health declaration and Bluezone for infection tracking to support its containment measures. In 2020, the number of people under quarantine due to COVID-19 in Vietnam reached over ten million, and around 4.3 million of them were under quarantine in centralized facilities across the country.Since March 2020, Vietnam has suspended entry for foreigners except for diplomats, officials, foreign investors, experts, and skilled workers. Upon arrival, a compulsory 21-day quarantine in a centralized facility or a designated hotel would be implemented. Consequently, the number of international visitors in Vietnam took a nosedive in 2020 after reaching a record-high in 2019. The country has also imposed a nationwide lockdown in April 2020 as well as some regional lockdowns, resulting in several months of no local transmissions after each outbreak.
State of vaccination and concerns over opening up
Vietnam is currently facing the dilemma of doing all that is necessary to improve the economy while keeping its control over the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the government has been readying its information technology infrastructure for handling COVID-19 vaccine passports, the adoption timeline has yet to be communicated. Meanwhile, the country started its vaccination campaign in March 2021. However, the vaccination rate remains modest due to the shortage of vaccine doses. With a low infection and vaccination rate, Vietnam has relatively low community immunity, which is among the major concerns of the government against opening its borders, even with the usage of vaccine passports. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam was among the countries with the highest GDP growth worldwide in 2020, a promising sign for its economic recovery.Vietnam is one out of more than 200 countries and territories battling the novel coronavirus. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.
